My original plan after the Grand Canyon was to head to Zion for the day and then over to Bryce where there was available camping, Zion already being full. But I had been wanting to check out Hoover Dam again, since I hadn’t been there since I was a kid and at the time we only drove over it (and perhaps walked around a bit). We had not taken the tour. In my original thinking, there was no way to do this and get to Zion and Bryce in a practical amount of time. Fortunately, with the suggestion of Las Vegas Bay campground as an option, I realized I could make this happen.

So, shortly after dawn I was off to Hoover Dam. My concern though was gas. While driving around the various spots at the Rim of the Canyon, my gas gauge was reading a bit lower than I would have liked. I knew there were a couple of gas stations before Williams Arizona, where I’d hit the Interstate again, but I also knew they were taking advantage of their remoteness and their prices were about 40 cents a gallon more expensive than what Williams had to offer. When I had arrived, this wasn’t an issue. But now, my car was estimating 80 miles left in the tank for about a 60 mile drive. It would be close.

And of course as soon as I turned out of the campground, the computer re-estimated the numbers down to 70 gallons left. If I didn’t stop to get at least one gallon of gas, I’d be cutting it close. I hate to pay more than I have to, especially when they’re obviously taking advantage of their location, but such is life.

But I also knew my car estimates based on most recent usage and other factors. So I figured I’d play it by ear. Sure enough about 20 miles down the road my car now estimated I had about 80 miles left. Yes, it had gone up. By the time I reached a gas station in Williams my car was estimating it had at least 60 miles to go. I was happy. I had “beat the system”. Or something.

Williams also happens to be the location of the start of the Grand Canyon Railway, so I figured I’d drive over and snap a few pictures. Well my timing was great because I was able to catch the departure of the northbound train. My day was getting even better! With that I then continued to the Hoover Dam.

The last time I had been there, the highway itself still crossed the top of the dam. I knew they had built a new bridge to change this, partly to alleviate the traffic jams, but also because in a post 9/11 world, the idea of a truck bomb being on top of the dam probably made more than a few people nervous. Though, truth to be told, given the mass of the dam, and sadly the lower water levels these days, I don’t think anything short of a nuke would do enough damage to endanger the dam or anything downstream.

While crossing over the new bridge I noticed a walkway along the side of it. I added this to my list of things to check out. I got off at the exit which interestingly enough is about 2-3 miles beyond the dam so you have to double-back.

I had forgotten the dam is a Department of Reclamation site, not a National Park so my new Park Pass wouldn’t help me here. I also didn’t realize if I had bypassed the large, obvious parking garage I could have driven across the dam, driven up the other side a bit and parked for free, saving myself $10. Ironically enough, at the end of the day I decided to do this drive anyway to get some other pictures. So, my advice, if you go, drive all the way across the dam, avoid the one paid parking lot on the other side and continue up. You’ll probably find free parking. Yes, it’s a bit more of a walk, but if you’re like me, you would end up walking over there anyway to check out the views.

Once parked I took the escalator down to the entrance and decided to do the full dam tour (or whatever it’s called). It gets you into a few more places. It’s $30. I’ll admit, I’m still not sure I got my money’s worth. But off I went. First a video of the making and history of the dam and then waiting for my tour time.

Finally I was off for the tour. First we saw one of the bypass tunnels used to divert the Colorado River during the construction. It’s a rough hewn rock tunnel about 50’ in diameter. It’s pretty cool. You stand in a room built inside it atop one of the main penstocks that’s 30’ in diameter. There’s a dull rumble and hum below your feet as thousands of gallons of water per second flow by.

From there you get to see the generator room on the Nevada side. One thing most people don’t realize (and I’ll admit I had forgotten) was that the primary reason for building the dam was flood control and to provide a steady water supply for communities like Las Vegas. The power was secondary and in some ways runs contrary to its primary goal (because the more power they generate, the less water they preserve behind the dam). This is particularly important today with the ongoing climate change because there’s a definite need for the power for communities like Las Vegas, but there’s also been far less snowfall the past winters so there’s far less snowpack, which means less snowmelt, which means the reservoir is far from capacity. In fact as of now, it’s only about 33% full. It’s 165.6’ below what’s considered “full”. Full is considered 1229’ above seal level. It’s at 1063.4’ as I write this. What’s known a deadpool level is 8% capacity and a water level of only 895’ At this level no power can be generated and now water can make it past the dam (since the only outlets for water are through the intake towers and down the penstocks.) I’m sadly betting that some of my readers will see Lake Mead reach deadpool in their lifetimes. (I think there’s a chance I might see it!)

If you only paid for part of the tour, there’s apparently not much more to see. But as I paid the whole dam price, we were taken to see other things, including what’s actually an air vent, but acts like a window on the side of the dam you can look out of. You also get to see an internal staircase that runs from the bottom of the dam all the way to the top. Yes, this is within the dam. The dam itself is not solid but as a number of access tunnels. One purpose of these tunnels is to permit inspection of the large concrete blocks that make up the dam and to monitor any stress cracks forming, other deformation, and more. Also, internal to the dam are seismometers. Originally these were apparently very low tech: literally bowls of mercury on tripods. Being dense, mercury won’t spill out unless something pretty strong shakes the tripod. These have since been replaced by electronic devices, which are in a box on the floor along the path of the tour. So you’re asked VERY firmly to NOT kick the boxes. I think the threat that it stops all the elevators and we’d have to walk that staircase up and out also helps people from doing that.

Another interesting detail about the dam is that it is in fact not attached to the side walls of the canyon in anyway. The mass of water pushes against the arch shape of the dam, holding it in place. This also means that when an earthquake does occur (and it’s near a fault line so they do occur) basically the dam can find its new equilibrium with the canyon walls.

After the tour, I wandered the dam area and took a lot of pictures. On the drive out I pulled over at the parking lot for the pedestrian bridge I mentioned earlier.

This is actually a very well done display and I recommend it. It costs nothing. Well, it might cost you your nerves. Once you’re up on the  bridge, there’s a VERY strong wind. I held on to my phone extra hard here because I was truly worried the wind might rip it out of my hands. You’re also 800’ above the Colorado at this point. But the view of the dam is incredible and I recommend it.

After that I headed into Boulder City for dinner and the Las Vegas Bay campground for the night. The campground itself was nothing much. I’m pretty sure when Lake Mead was higher there was an actual by nearby. But tonight, the shore was miles away. You can see on the drive in how much the lake shore has retreated and how some of the boat launch facilities, etc have had to move down the shore more and more to keep up.

I did manage to see a massive thunderstorm far across the lake, but it never bothered me. And with that, I was off to sleep.